1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a plated product with a base material having a plated surface on which a metal film is formed by electroplating.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, in the case of fabricating a plated product having a three-dimensional shape by electroplating, an electric current density at each part of a plated surface of a base material, on which plating is performed, has been uniformed so as to uniformly form a metal film on the plated surface without unevenness of the thickness thereof. More specifically, an exemplary countermeasure taken to uniform the electric current density at each part of the plated surface is to provide an auxiliary electrode at each part, at which the electric current density is likely to be low, in addition to a main electrode.
According to a method for fabricating a plated product, which is described in Patent Document 1, an anode is constituted by arranging a plurality of elements, such as wire members, thin rods, or thin tubes, in parallel and by tying together the arranged elements. Then, the anode is disposed so that ends of the wire members or the like constituting the anode are arranged along the plated surface. Thus, the distance between the anode and each part of the plated surface is maintained at a constant value in the direction of an axis of each of the arranged wire members or the like. Consequently, the electric current density at each part of the plated surface is uniformed.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-3-285097
Meanwhile, according to the method for fabricating a plated product, which is described in the Patent Document 1, although the distance between the anode and each part of the plated surface is maintained at a constant value in the direction of the axis of the wire members or the like constituting the anode, the shortest distance therebetween is not maintained at a constant value. Therefore, the electric current density at each part of the plated surface is not necessarily uniform. In some cases, for example, in a case where the plated surface has a curved shape, it is impossible to form an anode configured so that the shortest distance therebetween is constant.
Incidentally, although electric current flowing from the anode to each part of the base material is controlled by providing an auxiliary electrode as described above, the uniformity of the metal film can be enhanced. In this case, a fabricating apparatus is inevitably complicated.